NEW DELHI: Doing away with the quota of Anglo-Indians, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave nod to a legislative proposal to extend the reservation benefits for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for another 10 years.
Even after six months of the constitution of the 17th Lok Sabha, two seats of the Anglo-Indian community remain vacant in the Lower House.
“Reservation for the SC and ST categories in Lok Sabha and Assemblies was set to expire on January 25, 2020. The Centre will come up with a legislative proposal to extend the reservation benefits till January 25, 2030. The Bill will be brought in the current session of Parliament,” said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.
The reservation for these categories was to expire on January 25, 2020.Sources said, the SC and ST reservation in Parliament is extended through Constitutional amendments.
When asked if the government has done away with the reservation of Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha, Javadekar said the details of the Bill would be revealed in Parliament. However, sources said, the Cabinet took the view that the community is socio-economically doing better, besides being assimilated in the society, including the political parties. They added that the quota benefits of Anglo-Indians are being done away for the time being and if the need arises that the community genuinely deserves separate representation, the Centre would revisit the issue.
The Lower House has a strength of 545, which included two nominated members from the Anglo-Indian community. There are 84 MPs from the SC and 47 from the ST communities in Parliament. Assemblies have a total of 614 SC MLAs, besides 554 ST members.